New Fanfiction Policy

We are pleased to announce that Jim is altering his stance on fanfiction, much like Mercedes Lackey did last October. Rather than upholding the awkward “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy towards fanfiction he used in the past, Jim is embracing the Creative Commons. Now, fanfiction is to be licensed as derivative, noncommercial fiction under the Creative Commons umbrella.

What does this mean?

A) You can’t make money from fanfic based on Jim’s work.

B) Jim still isn’t going to read it. (Wouldn’t you rather he spend that time writing the next book, anyway?) Do not send Jim your stories or story ideas.

C) You need to post a disclaimer on your fic, like this handy example: “The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.” In doing so, you waive any rights to that work–you can’t sue Jim for compensation if he writes something similar.

D) Fanfic can now be talked about in places that had previously been off-limits, like our forum. We’ve created a separate “Fan Creations” section of the forum for for this purpose.

E) Ponies and ice cream for everyone!*

* This is not actually a byproduct of the new policy. Sorry.

Happy writing, folks!

Jim and Shannon Late to RT

Jim and Shannon are still expected to arrive at the Romantic Times Booklovers’ Convention in Columbus, OH, from April 28 to March 2, 2010 — but they’re going to show up later than expected, and will miss their panel appearances today. As reported on Jim’s and Shannon’s twitters, American Airlines goofed up their flight scheduling and failed to make the connecting flight (in Chicago — is that irony?) a possibility. Jim and Shannon are absolutely crushed, but as we understand it will still be trying to make it out for most of the Convention — somehow!

Dresden Files RPG Preorder Enters Its Fourth Week

The Dresden Files RPG preorder is entering its fourth week, and continues to go strong — over a thousand copies of the first volume, Your Story, have already been preordered with the second volume, Our World, not far behind. Things are looking great for the game! You can preorder the books at the Evil Hat Webstore, and learn more about the game at the game’s website.
And thanks to a “preview edition” PDF of each book going out right away to the people who preorder, people are already starting to play and discuss the game. You can find a lively discussion of the RPG over on the Dresden Files RPG boards on the Jim Butcher Online forum. Drop on by!

Books for Boobs Auctions Ending

Last week, the Books for Boobs project made its debut, launching a series of auctions of autographed books to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The first wave ends tonight, and the second ends tomorrow! You only have four more hours to bid on autographed copies of Changes, a number of Shannon’s books, and books from a host of other great sci-fi, fantasy, and TV-related authors! Also ending tonight is the auction for a 13″x19″ poster of the Codex Alera map, signed by Jim and artist Priscilla Spencer. You can check out the full list of participating authors here.
Support your favourite authors and help fight breast cancer! Bid here. You can talk about it on the forum here.